Stop Obamacare

Published: Saturday, August 31, 2013 at 12:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, August 30, 2013 at 10:06 a.m.

Editor: Obamacare is deadweight on a stagnant job market. Millions of Americans do not have jobs. Millions more are underemployed, trying to make ends meet. The solution to the crisis of underemployment is not a secret; it's economic growth, which will spur private sector hiring.

Obamacare undermines growth, making it harder for businesses to hire full-time workers or maintain part-time employment. "… private businesses cut worker hours this year because of the health care law," reports the Washington Post. "Obamacare Is Accelerating [the] U.S. Towards a Part-Time Nation," Forbes announces. Even in North Carolina, the News & Observer confronts the fact that "Some NC employers cut worker hours to avoid (the) cost of health care reform."

Facing such damaging headlines, President Obama made a unilateral decision to dull the effects of his unworkable law — offering big businesses a one-year reprieve from Obamacare's employer mandate. This particular delay will certainly not generate a lasting hiring uptick. Having just visited several local job creators, I can tell you, temporary relief from a broken policy is not a recipe for building North Carolina careers.

Selective delays spawn confusion, leaving a cloud of uncertainty over the seven million Americans who are projected to lose their current employer-sponsored insurance, as well as those who will be forced into Obamacare's exchanges.

Young people will see "premiums soar" and likely have to rely on large income-based taxpayer subsidies — distributed according to an "honor system." Families, whose premiums have increased $3,000 since 2008, face heightened costs when state and federal exchanges open and other mandates "go live."

Obamacare will financially burden employers and patients alike. But its disparate treatment of them through the president's waiver system is unfair. Every American deserves a break. That is why the House of Representatives voted, with bipartisan support, to stop Obamacare's individual mandate tax from hitting next year.

The House has voted 40 times to repeal, replace, dismantle, delay or defund Obamacare. Those who claim those efforts are "meaningless" are ignoring the seven votes that resulted in the president signing legislation into law, acknowledging flaws House Republicans illuminated.

Openness and transparency were left by the wayside when President Obama and Congressional Democrats rammed Obamacare through Congress on purely partisan lines. That broken process was a precursor to the broken way the government is handling health care — with patients on the periphery and a select few in Washington calling the shots.

President Obama and Obamacare's proponents promised the law would create jobs, cut costs, expand insurance and not raise taxes. But even prior to implementation, Obamacare has failed on those counts. It is the wrong solution for America.

Americans still want greater access to high-quality, affordable, competitive patient-centered care. The best way to achieve those goals is to repeal Obamacare in its entirety and start fresh with the American people guiding reform. Though the road to repeal, defund, delay or replace Obamacare in Democrat-controlled Washington is largely uphill, we will keep working. Real reform is worth the effort.

<p>Editor: Obamacare is deadweight on a stagnant job market. Millions of Americans do not have jobs. Millions more are underemployed, trying to make ends meet. The solution to the crisis of underemployment is not a secret; it's economic growth, which will spur private sector hiring. </p><p>Obamacare undermines growth, making it harder for businesses to hire full-time workers or maintain part-time employment. "… private businesses cut worker hours this year because of the health care law," reports the Washington Post. "Obamacare Is Accelerating [the] U.S. Towards a Part-Time Nation," Forbes announces. Even in North Carolina, the News & Observer confronts the fact that "Some NC employers cut worker hours to avoid (the) cost of health care reform."</p><p>Facing such damaging headlines, President Obama made a unilateral decision to dull the effects of his unworkable law — offering big businesses a one-year reprieve from Obamacare's employer mandate. This particular delay will certainly not generate a lasting hiring uptick. Having just visited several local job creators, I can tell you, temporary relief from a broken policy is not a recipe for building North Carolina careers.</p><p>Selective delays spawn confusion, leaving a cloud of uncertainty over the seven million Americans who are projected to lose their current employer-sponsored insurance, as well as those who will be forced into Obamacare's exchanges.</p><p>Young people will see "premiums soar" and likely have to rely on large income-based taxpayer subsidies — distributed according to an "honor system." Families, whose premiums have increased $3,000 since 2008, face heightened costs when state and federal exchanges open and other mandates "go live."</p><p>Obamacare will financially burden employers and patients alike. But its disparate treatment of them through the president's waiver system is unfair. Every American deserves a break. That is why the House of Representatives voted, with bipartisan support, to stop Obamacare's individual mandate tax from hitting next year. </p><p>The House has voted 40 times to repeal, replace, dismantle, delay or defund Obamacare. Those who claim those efforts are "meaningless" are ignoring the seven votes that resulted in the president signing legislation into law, acknowledging flaws House Republicans illuminated. </p><p>Openness and transparency were left by the wayside when President Obama and Congressional Democrats rammed Obamacare through Congress on purely partisan lines. That broken process was a precursor to the broken way the government is handling health care — with patients on the periphery and a select few in Washington calling the shots.</p><p>President Obama and Obamacare's proponents promised the law would create jobs, cut costs, expand insurance and not raise taxes. But even prior to implementation, Obamacare has failed on those counts. It is the wrong solution for America.</p><p>Americans still want greater access to high-quality, affordable, competitive patient-centered care. The best way to achieve those goals is to repeal Obamacare in its entirety and start fresh with the American people guiding reform. Though the road to repeal, defund, delay or replace Obamacare in Democrat-controlled Washington is largely uphill, we will keep working. Real reform is worth the effort.</p><p>Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th</p><p>Banner Elk</p>